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In this second edition of “Ziddy Plays”, we will be taking a look at a game made using a program named 2D Fighter Maker 2nd (Published by Enterbrain) . Even though there are many games that use the Fighter Maker engine, there are a lot of differences in the final products. This will be looked into on the next Ziddy Plays. For now, check out this review of Exceed Force.

Most doujin games tend to take original content as their source. Exceed Force is no exception. In this game, all 5 playable characters are from the Tales Of series, with the exception of the Training Dummy. The source material is actually a series of Role Playing Games, with a battle system that resembles fighting games.

Tales of Destiny 2 Battle Scene

In the original games, whenever you enter a battle your character will be able to move freely and attack the enemy, either through physical strikes or magical spells. These attacks can “combo” the enemy, hence creating additional hits and chains. These combos will be awarded as additional experience points to the party when the fight is over.

The characters in Exceed Force are from Tales of Destiny 2 (Kyle Dunamis / Judas / Barbatos Goetia), Tales of Eternia(Rid Hershel) and Tales of Rebirth(Veigue Lungberg). They have their own moveset which greatly resemble their RPG counterparts. Whenever a skill is used, the character will read out the skill’s name while executing it. The character sprites are ripped from the game’s itself, so they animate and look nicely. This is the exact same thing as the RPGs and it’s nice how despite being a doujin game, little details like these are still added.

Like most of the other fighting game’s out there, your goal is to deplete the opponent’s health bar without being killed first. Exceed Force contains a lot of common standards you see in fighting games of today, such as a Super Gauge. As such, if you are familiar with fighting games, the User Interface and the gameplay won’t confuse you.

Most command moves are done using simple street fighter movements such as Down Right + A or Down Left Right C. To execute supers (hi ougis), one must press C at the end of their skill animation. If the skill contains an extension and you have a max Super Gauge, a cut-in will appear and your character will proceed to wipe the floor using the enemy. If you have played the Tales Series before, you’ll quickly notice that it’s the same way you activate the Hi Ougis in the original games as well.

Exceed Force Screenshot

All the moves and animations are done the same way as the original games, so when you really get down into the game, it’s just a fighting game with the battle system of the original games. That’s not to say that this game is all “copy and paste”, as some visual effects are done by the programmer itself. It might look simple, but when compared to other games made using this engine, you can tell that hard work has been put into it.

The AI is challenging as well, but it won’t cause you to pull our your hair in frustration. All in all, it’s a good fighting game but you won’t find as much depth in it like Tekken or Street Fighter. If you’re a tales/fighting game fan, you should grab this game and give it a go. There’s still a few glitches here and there, but the game is still being updated.

Pros : The animation and audio resemble the source material very well. The fighting is fast paced and fun. Very impressive quality for a Doujin Game.

Cons : Small character roster, a few glitches.

Rating : 7/10 - The small character roster makes replay value limited. However, the game itself is rather enjoyable.